Flood victims hope to get not just food aid
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) on Thursday urged private sector partners to scale up relief efforts by providing nonfood items, especially household cleaning materials, as the country continues to face the impact of successive tropical cyclones.
In a forum organized by PDRF, OCD officials told the Inquirer that most assistance requests from flood-hit areas, particularly Regions I and the Cordillera Administrative Region, now focus on nonfood needs.
“Most of the requirements that we are receiving… are mostly nonfood items in nature. There are some municipalities requesting for rice, but fortunately we still have stocks for that,” said OCD Logistics Division officer in charge Jelo Mangaoang.
“Hygiene kits, go bags, and ponchos or rain gear — those are the requests that we’ve been receiving lately,” he added.
“You may also consider [non-food items] as part of your planning if you want to provide assistance to those localities that you pay special attention to,” he told private partners in the forum.
Mangaoang said the OCD will tap the National Food Authority for localities that need assistance with rice supplies.
Adapting relief
PDRF, the country’s lead private sector coordinator for disaster response, said that relief must be adapted to the nature of flooding disasters. Unlike in volcanic eruptions, evacuees affected by floods typically return home as soon as waters subside.
“With flooding, people don’t necessarily stay at evacuation centers for a long time,” said PDRF Operations Center Director Arnel Capili. “So we’re modifying our hygiene kits to include household cleaning equipment and materials, because every time, there will be mud and debris inside the houses.”
The PDRF thanked partners for aid in the form of food packs, bottled waters, electric generators, free network services, and fuel assistance. Private sector partners have also pledged P2 million in funding, Capili said.
He identified other immediate needs such as transport trucks, logistics support, family food packs, and water treatment systems.
Speaking from PDRF’s disaster operations center in Clark, Capili encouraged partners to work with the foundation to streamline and broaden their efforts.
PDRF invites interested individuals or groups to reach out to its partnerships team through Klaribelle Languayan (kblanguayan@pdrf.org.ph, 0935-6007579) or Gabrielle Oppus (gdoppus@pdrf.org.ph, 0947-2725775).
